Western Kentucky University professor John All was conducting climate research in Nepal on Monday when he suddenly fell into a crevasse, breaking his arm, five ribs and dislocating his shoulder.

"It probably took me four or five hours to climb out. I kept moving sideways, slightly up, sideways, slightly up, until I found an area where there was enough hard snow that I could get an ax in and pull myself up and over," he told HLN's RightThisMinute.

"I knew that if I fell at any time in that entire four or five hours, I, of course, was going to fall all the way to the bottom of the crevasse. Any mistake, or any sort of rest or anything, I was going to die."